Have I done enough ?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Jiraiya2016

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2016
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Hi guys !
This is my stats so far.
cGPA: 3.63 (should be 3.7 by the end of Spring 2016)
sGPA: 3.70 (I am not sure but it should be around 3.75 or more by the end of Spring 2016)
MCAT: Haven't taken yet

EC:
2 years of computer tutoring at a cc.
2 years of clinical volunteering at a local hospital (~200 hrs)
6 months of clinical volunteering at the same hospital's ICU (different department, ~100 hrs)
2 months of volunteering at the same hospital's specialty pharmacy (~50 hrs)
1 year of clinical volunteering at OHSU's mICU (~250 hrs)
1 year of research at PSU's chemistry lab (no publication/poster, this should amount around 250 hrs as I still have nightmares about standing by a chromatography column for 6 hours).
Ongoing volunteering at The Oregon POLST Registry (should have around 100 hrs by time of applying)
Ongoing research assistant/clinical volunteering with a Speech Pathologist PhD at OHSU (should have around 200-300 hours by time of applying).

I am kinda stressing out right now as I have a feeling that my current EC right now isn't enough. So I am an Oregon resident, currently in my 5th year finishing up my second degree in Biology (First one is Biochemistry). I was a late-starter as I realized my urge to become a physician quite late as compared to other fellow pre-med students (around 2012), thus all of those volunteering hours I have accumulated are within the past 3 years. I am planning to take a gap year to raise my GPA a little bit and will be applying next May of 2017. So basically I have a year and a half until submitting my application. What should I be focusing on ? Should I be taking on more volunteering hours or be focusing on non-clinical volunteering experience ? I know that I haven't done any shadowing yet and I will starting by the end of this Winter term.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Get some shadowing in and take your MCAT. You've done a lot of volunteering (certainly enough to "box check") and you have some research experience. Those are the "big 3" of ECs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
Agreed with @WedgeDawg about shadowing and MCAT. Give yourself plenty of time for the MCAT, obviously so that you do well, but also in case you need to take it again before the app cycle begins. Keep going with volunteering and research. I've been asked "in the past few months" interview questions about ECs.

Also:
*This* is my stats
*advises*
Start early on your PS so you can get as many eyes on it as possible ;)
 
Last edited:
Agreed with above but... All that research work and nothing to show (posters/abstracts)?
 
Agreed with @WedgeDawg about shadowing and MCAT. Give yourself plenty of time for the MCAT, obviously so that you do well, but also in case you need to take it again before the app cycle begins.

Also:
*This* is my stats
*advises*
Start early on your PS so you can get as many eyes on it as possible ;)
Oh boy, please excuse my poor grammar, I am not a native English speaker anyway, and I didn't sleep at all last night, too busy finishing up some Korean drama series :D. If I were to score good on my MCAT, would my stats be competitive for most medical schools ?
 
Oh boy, please excuse my poor grammar, I am not a native English speaker anyway, and I didn't sleep at all last night, too busy finishing up some Korean drama series :D. If I were to score good on my MCAT, would my stats be competitive for most medical schools ?

Yes
 
Oh boy, please excuse my poor grammar, I am not a native English speaker anyway, and I didn't sleep at all last night, too busy finishing up some Korean drama series :D. If I were to score good on my MCAT, would my stats be competitive for most medical schools ?

No worries. If you can score 510+ then I'd say you're competitive for any MD program.
 
Agreed with above but... All that research work and nothing to show (posters/abstracts)?
I just did not have enough time to produce any meaningful result in the chemistry lab, the lab work was just hideously lengthy and repetitive. As for the other one, I am certain that I will be getting a strong LOR from the PI though.
 
No worries. If you can score 510+ then I'd say you're competitive for any MD program.

Wouldn't say any, but a 3.7/30 is generally a marginally competitive profile and can get an MD acceptance if in a non-bad state and with a smart app list.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I just did not have enough time to produce any meaningful result in the chemistry lab, the lab work was just hideously lengthy and repetitive. As for the other one, I am certain that I will be getting a strong LOR from the PI though.

I'm biased because I spent 5 years in research and got some pubs out of it - but I get frustrated by applicants who tout research experience without much to show for it. It might be beneficial to find another PI doing similar work and see if you can get your hands on an actual (independent) project. Anything substantial to talk about during an interview is a + and has the potential to strike a chord with the ADCOM (much more so than just checking off the "research" box).
 
I'm biased because I spent 5 years in research and got some pubs out of it - but I get frustrated by applicants who tout research experience without much to show for it. It might be beneficial to find another PI doing similar work and see if you can get your hands on an actual (independent) project. Anything substantial to talk about during an interview is a + and has the potential to strike a chord with the ADCOM (much more so than just checking off the "research" box).

You can also talk about what you did and what you learned from it. Productivity isn't nearly as important in undergrad research as it is later on. It's a bonus for sure, but it's not necessary. Now, I agree that it's something that you should strive for, but sometimes it just doesn't pan out, especially with experiences that are one year long or less.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I'm biased because I spent 5 years in research and got some pubs out of it - but I get frustrated by applicants who tout research experience without much to show for it. It might be beneficial to find another PI doing similar work and see if you can get your hands on an actual (independent) project. Anything substantial to talk about during an interview is a + and has the potential to strike a chord with the ADCOM (much more so than just checking off the "research" box).
I did have my own project, and it ended up consuming more than 15 hours of my life every single week, I was so frustrated that I had to drop the project (my thought was that I wasn't planning on applying for a Chem PhD program, why would I be dropping so many hours into the project).

What is a non-bad state anyway ?
 
I did have my own project, and it ended up consuming more than 15 hours of my life every single week, I was so frustrated that I had to drop the project (my thought was that I wasn't planning on applying for a Chem PhD program, why would I be dropping so many hours into the project).

What is a non-bad state anyway ?

Bad states are those that matriculate high percentages of their applicants to out of state schools. The archetypal example is California (matriculates <20% of their successful premeds into CA schools). An example of a "good" state would be West Virginia.

I would also add that 15+ hours/week is pretty standard for research during the semester if you're doing most kinds of benchwork.
 
Bad states are those that matriculate high percentages of their applicants to out of state schools. The archetypal example is California (matriculates <20% of their successful premeds into CA schools). An example of a "good" state would be West Virginia.

I would also add that 15+ hours/week is pretty standard for research during the semester if you're doing most kinds of benchwork.
I understand that 15+ hours/week wasn't that much, however I was volunteering and it wasn't just benchwork alone, I had to read articles, present them weekly to the PI =.=". Also, would you say Oregon is a bad state ? I heard that OHSU does favor in-state students a lot though.
 
I understand that 15+ hours/week wasn't that much, however I was volunteering and it wasn't just benchwork alone, I had to read articles, present them weekly to the PI =.=". Also, would you say Oregon is a bad state ? I heard that OHSU does favor in-state students a lot though.

Reading articles and talking about them critically is an important part of research as well as being able to be fluent in the language of scientific literature.

I don't know enough about Oregon to tell you whether it's a good state or bad state. I will say that I haven't heard it listed among the most commonly cited "bad states", but that doesn't mean it isn't one.
 
Reading articles and talking about them critically is an important part of research as well as being able to be fluent in the language of scientific literature.

I don't know enough about Oregon to tell you whether it's a good state or bad state. I will say that I haven't heard it listed among the most commonly cited "bad states", but that doesn't mean it isn't one.
I see, do you think getting into a lab now would be better than keep volunteering ? There is no guarantee that I would be getting a publication/poster or my own project since I only have a little over a year left. My plan would be to keep focusing on my current research assistant job as it is significantly more involving with human subjects, and I do get experience in grant writing/patient screening, and obviously I will not be getting my own project :D. I am also thinking about picking up a couple more volunteering positions/research in different apartments as well. Basically I am trying to get the most out of the time that I have left before applying.
 
Top